The Mission of Autism and Scouting is to develop programs, projects, support and resources for all scouts on the Autism spectrum, their families, caregivers and scout leaders that promote acceptance, inclusion, support skills for life and support self-advocacy within a scouting program. We support all scouting programs in the US and around the world.

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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Autism and Scouting and Autism Empowerment

Hello all,

I know it has been awhile since I last blogged. I would like to get back more into the blogging habit. Some exciting things are happening at Autism and Scouting. First, we now have 132 “likes” at the Facebook page from countries all of the world and 149 members at the Facebook Group. Please help us spread the word for both the page and the group, we would love to be at 150 Likes by the end of the year and 160 in the Group. Facebook Page – http://www.facebook.com/autismandscoutingFacebook Group - http://www.facebook.com/groups/121685817883439/Thanks to all who have liked the Page and are members of the Group.Next, I know I have mentioned that Karen and I started a non-profit corporation called Autism Empowerment and I was going to share more information. Well, today I wanted to take this chance to let people know more about this exciting new non-profit. We filed our incorporation paperwork with the State of Washington (USA) on June 3rd, 2011 and held our first board of directors meeting on June 21st, 2011 to chart the course forward. The next step was to file the paperwork with the IRS to receive a tax exempt pubic charity designation of 501(C)(3) which we did on July 18th. On September 18th of this month Autism Empowerment received is 501 (C)(3) designation as a publicly funded charity. Autism Empowermentis an educational and charitable 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, publicly funded non-profit corporation dedicated to enriching and empowering the lives of individuals and families affected by Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder not otherwise specified (PDD/NOS) and related autism spectrum disorders.

By providing programs, projects, support and resources to individuals, families, caregivers and educators that promote acceptance, improve life skills and encourage self-advocacy and empowerment, we seek to support and inspire those on the autism spectrum to reach their highest potential.

The four foundational pillars of Autism Empowerment are:

Accept,Enrich,Inspire,Empower.

Accept - We strongly promote the unconditional acceptance of those on the autism spectrum and with related disorders. By accepting each spectrum traveler for who they are, where they are, we are promoting both autism acceptance and autism awareness.

Enrich - Our goal is to provide educational resources, programs and tools to improve and enhance life skills for those on the autism spectrum as well as their families, caregivers, therapists and teachers. We aspire to make life more meaningful and rewarding.

Inspire - We dedicate ourselves to be a positive, uplifting organization that encourages and celebrates success in all individuals. We believe each person on the autism spectrum has the opportunity to make a positive difference in this world.

Empower - We strive to empower those on the autism spectrum to achieve a higher quality of life academically, emotionally, financially, socially and spiritually.

The website was just launched on October 31st, 2011 and here is the website:www.autismempowerment.orgIf you or anyone you know might like to support Autism Empowerment either financially or with an in-kind donation, we are a publicly funded charity and all contributions are tax-deductible. We will soon be needing volunteers as well.One of the programs that Autism Empowerment will be supporting is a program called Autism and Scouting which this blog, Facebook Page and Facebook Group will be part of. We are excited about Autism and Scouting being one of the Autism Empowerment programs and we look forward to bringing much more support to the families and leaders of those on the Autism Spectrum as well as direct support to the scouts.Our plans for the future are to extend support to leaders of all different scouting organizations, develop an Autism and Scouting Resource Kit that will be coming in 2012 as well as create other programs for the future based on need, feedback and financial resources.We believe that the scouting movement can benefit most of those on the Autism Spectrum because of the positive and inclusive atmosphere that scouting fosters. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, you can email them to either: john@autismempowerment.org or autismandscouting@gmail.comYou can also follow us on twitter at autismscouting or AutismEmpowermtThank you so much for all of your support and if we can help in any way, just let us know.

About Me

The Mission of Autism and Scouting is to develop programs, projects, support and resources for all scouts on the Autism spectrum, their families, caregivers and scout leaders that promote acceptance, inclusion, support skills for life and support self-advocacy within a scouting program. We support all scouting programs in the US and around the world.